Cathy Landry | 202-682-8122 | landryc@api.org
WASHINGTON, October 14, 2009 - U.S. gasoline deliveries in September continued to build on the strengthening trend seen over the summer months, perhaps a sign that a glimmer of life has been breathed back into the economy, according to API’s Monthly Statistical Report, which noted a 6.6 percent increase in gasoline deliveries for this September, compared with a year ago.
But the September gasoline demand increase also was due in part to the temporary effects of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which lowered U.S. crude production, increased imports, and complicated deliveries in September 2008, making year-to-year comparisons in many categories difficult.
“The most basic explanation for increased gasoline deliveries is the lack of hurricanes this September, compared with the major impact of Gustav and Ike last year on refinery production and product distribution,” said API Statistics Manager Ron Planting. “But even if last September’s deliveries had not been affected by those temporary factors, we estimate that this September’s deliveries still would have been up 2 percent or more from last year, apparently an indicator of the somewhat improved health of the economy.”
Still, distillate deliveries failed to rebound, showing a September decline of 1.5 percent from a year ago. Though the decline marked the smallest distillate delivery drop this year, it was likely colored by the atypical, hurricane-related demand patterns for September 2008. When compared with September 2007, deliveries were down more than 11 percent.
September’s domestic crude oil production rose to its highest level since May at 5.29 million barrels per day. Lower 48 output held relatively steady compared with recent months, at 4.61 million barrels per day, while Alaskan production rebounded from summer lows below 600,000 barrels per day, to 681,000 barrels per day in September. Last September, U.S. crude oil production had dipped to less than 4 million barrels per day because of precautionary shut-ins of Gulf of Mexico platforms due to hurricanes Ike and Gustav.
Updated: October 14, 2009